Psalm 1:1–3 The Blessed Man

The word blessed is not a word used frequently especially outside of a church context. But this is a significant biblical word that is used repeatedly throughout the Scriptures. In Psalm 1 it is in the emphatic position to highlight its significance. The blessed man.  

 The word “blessed” is also a passive word. The blessed man doesn’t bless himself, someone outside of him blesses him. You are not the active agent, you are the recipient of the action. The blessed man is not someone who works harder than other people, has more opportunity, knows the right people, or hits the genetic lottery. The blessed man lives in the presence of God, and under the favor of God. God blesses him. That does not mean that his life is free from trial. For the Scripture tells us that God blessed Job. Job 42:10,12

This blessing is noticeable. Other people and even unbelievers can recognize God’s blessing on someone’s life. Abimelech recognized in Abraham (God is with you in all that you do (Gen. 21:22) 

Philistines and Abimelech recognized and envied Isaac (Gen. 26:11–16, 28–29) 

Laban recognized it with Jacob (Gen. 30:27) that God blessed him because of Jacob. It is what Jacob desired from the angel he wrestled with (Gen. 32:26

Potipher and Pharaoh recognized it with Joseph. Gen. 39:3,5 “And his master saw that the LΟRD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand...And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake: and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.”

Daniel - king set him over the whole realm. 

Blessed = happy or prosperous; enjoying spiritual happiness and the favor of God

Blessed - Reformation Heritage Study Bible “rich in the benefits of God’s grace” 

God is the active agent. He is the one doing the blessing. It is an interersting study to look at every time the Scripture uses the word blessed. 287 times.  48 times in the book of Genesis. God blessed marriage - Gen. 1:22,28 5:2 God blessed the Sabbath - Gen. 2:3 God blessed Noah as he started over following the flood. Gen. 9:1 the most famous one, the blessing of Abraham Genesis 12:3 God even promises to bless those that bless him. Genesis uses this frequently because God reiterates it to Abraham and Abraham passes the blessing to his son Isaac, and Isaac passes the blessing to his son Jacob, and Jacob passes the blessing to his sons. The ultimate demonstration of the blessing is Jesus. As a child of faith we enter into that blessing. Psalm 32:1 quoted in Romans 4:6-9. Galatians 3:7-9,16 as well as the Great Commission we are to take that blessing to the nations. 

In Matthew 5 - blessed are those that demonstrate the fruit of conversion and the new birth. This is a description of the Blessed Man in the NT

Beattitude - Blessedness; felicity of the highest kind; consumate bliss; used of the joys of heaven. 

Matthew 25:34 eternal blessedness

material blessing, physical, relational and family blessing, but the epitome and superlative of hightest blessing is spiritual and eternal blessing (Ephesians 1:3, 2:7) 

In Christ all the nations of the world are blessed

This usage of blessed is plural. It could be translated Blessednesses.

Literally: Oh the blessedness! 

Are you blessed this morning? 

Wall Street Journal article this week found that only 12% of Americans consider themselves to be “very happy.” Three common denominators in the 12% were marriage, community, and religious. They are getting warmer. 

Prop. A description of the Blessed Man

Purpose: to motivate and inspire a delight in the Scriptures

1. The Path of the Blessed Man - verse 1

It begins with just hearing their counsel, then standing around and discussing it and finally sitting down and dwelling in their lifestyle. 

There are many things we can learn to do from the world. how to fix something, etc. The issue is the motives, the why questions.

Our desire is to be an influence upon those around us. We are to be light of the world. We are to be the salt of the earth and if the salt loses its savor it becomes usesless wherewith shall it be seasoned? The ungodly should see a sharp contrast in our lifestyle that evidences the genuineness of our faith. 

Psalm 16:11 - path of life - in thy presence of fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. 

A. avoid their counsel - don't live by the philosophies of this world which lacks an eternal perspective. The world's lifestyle is entirely based upon money and pleasure. It is impossible for the ungodly to have an eternal perspective. 

The Christian life is often a path of avoidance because we live in a world that is at enmity with God. This Psalm warns of the danger of worldly influence. 

Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Titus 2:12

Proverbs 4:14-15, 18-19 26-27 avoiding the path of the wicked that views the path of the Christian life as foolishness. That is the challenge of this psalm to "ponder the path of our feet." Consider the path that you are on and whether you will be satisfied when your course is completed. 

The devil in the garden of Eden. God knows that if you eat of it you will become like gods. Implied that God doesn’t want that. But Romans 8:29 God has predestinated you to be conformed to the image of his Son. He does want you to grow into him. 

1. counsel = advice or plan 

"ungodly signifies such as are unsettled, aim at no certain end and walk by no certain rule, but are at the command of every lust and at the beck of every temptation." Matthew Henry on Psalm 1:1

A Christian has a settled end which is to glorify God and a certain rule which is His written word and live at the command of the Holy Spirit of God. 

2. The world has a plan for your life. It has counsel for your children, how many you have, how you educate them, how you discipline them. It has counsel for how you run your home. How you deal with finances, where to spend your money (none of which have eternal value), what mom should be doing, what dad should be doing, etc. We are immersed in worldly wisdom. The degree to which you are embracing or avoiding the counsel of the ungodly will be manifest in your decision making and your daily lifestyle. 

3. Those walking in light should not seek counsel from the blind walking in darkness. 

Note: Read where we spent $330 million to test the inside of a comet to find some information regarding the origin of the universe. I could have explained it for half of that. 

B. avoid their course - next level of influence where we begin adopting their counsel and living it. 

way (gr) - course of life or mode of action

Avoid a lifestyle which eventually makes the way of the ungodly seem more acceptable. 

1. Eph. 5:11-13

2. Rom. 12:2 - don't conform to it!

C. avoid their contempt - their primary contempt is for spiritual and eternal things because they see no value in them. All that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. One of the primary ways this happens is receiving reproach and contempt for a godly lifestyle. Not a self righteous lifestyle but one that doesn't follow the course of this world. 

1. This world has contempt for God's absolute truth and views it as antiquated and repressive. Illustrated well in Pilgrim's Progress. 

2. "sitteth" = dwell, remain, settle, or marry

3. "seat" = assemble, abode, dwelling

It portrays the essence of being permanent. Whatever the blessed man is, it is not that. 

Who does this description remind you of? Lot (Gen. 13:12 pitched his tent toward Sodom, Gen. 14:12 Lot dwelt in Sodom, Gen. 19:1 Lot sat in the gate of Sodom) raised children that were married to its inhabitants and refused to flee the promised destruction. 

Trans. Another description and contrast of the righteous is not just the avoidance of the ungodly and their philosophies but a replacing them with the instruction and influence of the Word of God. A contrast of lifestyle with the lifestyle of the ungodly. Does our cousel come from wordly wisdom or the Word of God? 

2. The Pleasure of the Blessed Man - the word of God 

A. The Blessed Man’s Appetite for the Word of God

What does this blessing look like? Deuteronomy 28:1-15 what is the hinge? what you do with God’s word. 

This demonstrates the seriousness someone refuses to listen to God’s word? The second half of Dt. 28 are the curses. 

Our practice should be to demonstrate from God’s word why we are doing what we are doing? 

The Blessed man delights in God’s word. 

Psalm 112:1-3 

Psalm 119:1-8

Psalm 128

Luke 1:28, 42, 45, 48 11:27-28

Ephesians 1:3 Christ is the source of all of our spiritual and eternal blessings. 

James 1:25

Revelation 22:7,14

Appetite for God’s word

Note: There is a difference between listening to sermons and podcasts and getting into God’s word yourself. You and the Scritpures. 

Sermons are good. Podcasts are good. But that is not the same thing as delighting in the Word of God. 

There is a difference between reading a book and watching the movie. They put all of the effort in to make your role passive. Not actively reading and thinking. Think about learning to fish, not just by watching fishing on TV. Learning to hunt, not just watching hunting videos. Learning to cook, not just watching a cooking show. Golf just by watching golf. Listening to others is not the same as doing the work yourself. Hebrews 5:12-13 teaching not taught. skillful in the Word. It is the difference between giving a man a fish or teaching him how to fish? 

As a movie is to a book is as a sermon is to Scritpure. Needs to get beyond having meals cooked for you and learning to microwave leftovers but eventually going into the text spending time in reflection of the meaning of the text and allowing it to feed your soul. 

Get into the Scriptures yourself and meditate upon them. Fellowship in the Scriptures. Spend time with your spouse reading the scriptures together. Spend time with your children reading and discussing the Scriptures. Spend time with a friend or neighbor reading and discussing the Scriptures. Meet with an unbeliever and read the Scriptures together. Start in the gospel of Mark and read a chapter a week and discuss. That is what the gospels were written for. 

B. The Blessed Man’s Appreciation for God’s Word  - the Blessed Man’s Pleasure - — Happiness — Joy — Delight

Delight - a high degree of pleasure, or satisfaction of mind; joy — Delight is a more permanent pleasure than joy, and not dependent on sudden excitement. 

Pray for yourself. Pray for your children. A delight in your word. 

Psalm 111:2 The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

You will pardon me if in a sermon on delighting in the Scriptures you won’t mind if I read the Scriptures. 

LOVE 

Ps. 119:14

Ps:119:127: Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.

Ps:119:47: And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

Ps:119:48: My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.

Ps:119:97: O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

Ps:119:113: I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.

Ps:119:140: Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.

Ps:119:159: Consider how I love thy precepts:

Ps:119:167: My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.

DELIGHT

Ps:119:16: I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. 

Ps:119:24: Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.

Ps:119:35: Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

Ps:119:47: And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

C. The Blessed Man’s Approach to the Word of God - what instruction to know how to derive counsel from the word of God. 

meditate - (Heb.) murmur, ponder, study, talk

meditate - To dwell on any thing in thought; to contemplate; to study; to turn or REVOLVE any subject in the mind. (like a rotisserie cooker rotates every side)

Chewing the cud

premeditated murder thinks through every possible scenario or if you were going to rob a bank. 

In the Scriptures for a day, In the Scriptures every day, In the Scriptures all day. Delighting in the Scriptures all day, every day.  

David as a shepherd had time all day to meditate upon the Word of God so much that he wrote about it. Most occupations aren't conducive to this. Some are, and the world loves to consume our thoughts with vanity. 

1. I Timothy 4:15-16

"There is nothing more important in the Christian life than the way we approach the Bible, and the way in which we read it. It is our textbook, it is our only source, it is our only authority. We know nothing about God and about the Christian life in a true sense apart from the Bible. ... Very well; it is obviously important that we should approach this Book in the right manner. We must start by agreeing that merely to read the Bible is not enough in and of itself. It is possible for us to read the Bible in such a mechanical manner that we derive no benefit from doing so. That is why I think we have to be careful with every kind of rule and regulation in the matter of discipline in the spiritual life. It is a good thing to read the Bible daily, but it can be quite profitless if we merely do so for the sake of being able to say we read the Bible daily. I am a great advocate of schemes of Bible reading, but we have to be careful that in our use of such schemes we are not content just to read the portion for the day and then to rush off without thought and meditation. That can be quite profitless. Our approach to the Bible is something which is of vital importance... I can be seated with the Bible in front of me; I can be reading its words and going through its chapters; and yet I may be drawing a conclusion which is quite false to the pages in front of me... The heretics were never dishonest men they were mistaken men." Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Ps:119:15: I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

Ps:119:23: Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.

Ps:119:48: My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.

Ps:119:78: Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.

Ps:119:148: Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.

2. Dt. 17:14-20 Kings having to write a copy of the law - what a thought. Always enjoyed my young children working on handwriting by copying Scripture. John MacArthur and others write their sermons with a fountain pen, forcing them to pause over every word. 

Trans. The value of meditation is that once the truth is digested, you can see how it applies to real life situations. (For example, once you realize the insanity of government spending and meditate on it for a few hours you begin to see hundreds of examples of how they have taken over jobs and tax everything else. Schools, roads, gas, etc. )

The Path of the Blessed Man, the Pleasure of the Blessed Man, and briefly, The Prosperity of the Blessed Man

3. The Prosperity of the Blessed Man - this prosperity is a spiritual prosperity and has very little to do with financial prosperity, it is soul propserity. Some of the most prosperous individuals in this world would trade it all to experience true blessedness. Some of the godliest men in the Bible went through immense suffering and struggle while their soul prospered. A steady diet of Bible is like a lifetime of taking vitamins. It takes a lifetime to notice the difference not a short term effect. 

A. his placement - by the rivers of water means the irrigations ditches. 

- the man who meditates in Scripture has a continual source of strength to draw from.

1. Joshua 1:8 

2. 1 Kings 2:1-3 David’s charge to Solomon

- planted - implies transplanted or placed in a particular place - Christ places the Christian into his called out assembly where he will be watered and fed in a proper environment

B. his produce - bringeth forth fruit. It may take time but at the appropriate season. 

-John 15:1-8

C. his preservation - won't wither - even during times of drought and famine there is a spring to draw from. 

D. his performance - whatsoever he doeth shall prosper - that is a pretty open ended promise

1. Joseph Gen. 39:3,23 - not someone that had an easy life. 

"he who reads, prays, and meditates, will ever see the work which God has given him to do; the power by which he is to perform it; and the times, places, and opportunities for doing those things by which God can obtain most glory, his own soul most good, and his neighbour most edification." Adam Clarke.

Conclusion

Does this sound like a description of your life? Just to the degree that you delight and saturate yourself and act in obedience to the Word of God will you be blessed. Some of you need to get alone with your Bible for a whole day, fast and pray and read and break the calouses off of your heart.